Republicans argued that the map meets the court’s directive and draws compact districts that comply with redistricting guidelines. Republicans have been reluctant to create a Democratic-leaning district and are engaging in a high-stakes wager that the panel will accept their proposal or that the state will prevail in a second round of appeals. Rodger Smitherman, a Democrat from Birmingham. “There’s no opportunity there for anybody other than a white Republican to win that district. READ MORE: Despite its civil rights history, Selma, Alabama sees steady voter turnout decline But Black lawmakers said the new map invoked the state’s Jim Crow history of treating Black voters unfairly and flouted a directive from a three-judge panel to create a second majority-Black district or “something quite close to it” so that Black voters “have an opportunity to elect a representative of their choice.” Republicans argued that the proposal complies with a court order to create a district where Black voters could influence the outcome of congressional elections. A conference committee proposed the map as a compromise between plans that had percentages of 42 percent and 38 percent, respectively for the southeast Alabama district. Lawmakers in the Republican-dominated House and Senate instead passed a plan that would increase the percentage of Black voters from about 31 percent to 40 percent in the state’s 2nd District.
Supreme Court to give minority voters a greater voice in elections and trigger a renewed battle over the state’s political map. (AP) - Alabama lawmakers on Friday refused to create a second majority-Black congressional district, a move that could defy a recent order from the U.S.
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